Straying From the Righteous Path and From Ourselves

Abstract

The present research addresses the relationship between morally valenced behavior and perceptions of self-knowledge, an outcome that has received little attention in moral psychology. We propose that morally valenced behavior is related to subjective perceptions of self-knowledge, such that people experience lower levels of self-knowledge when they are reminded of their immoral behaviors. We tested this proposition in four studies ( N = 1,177). Study 1 used daily-diary methods and indicates that daily perceptions of self-knowledge covary with daily levels of morally valenced behavior. The final three studies made use of experimental methods and demonstrate that thinking about immoral behaviors attenuates current perceptions of self-knowledge. The predicted relationships and effects generally persist when controlling for self-esteem. Based on our findings, we argue that perceived self-knowledge may play a functional role in moral self-concept maintenance and moral regulatory processes.

The Authentic Moral Self: Dynamic Interplay between Perceived Authenticity and Moral Behaviors in the Workplace

“…Our focus is the generalizability of this relationship in work-related contexts. Therefore, we did not examine or compare to non-work-related contexts where the relationship between moral behaviors and authenticity has been established (Christy et al, 2016;Kim, et al, 2017). We examined both sides of this potentially bidirectional relationship.…”

“…This lay belief has implications for both feelings of authenticity and moral behaviors. For instance, emerging evidence (Christy, Seto, Schlegel, Vess, & Hicks, 2016;Kim, Christy, Rivera, Schlegel, & Hicks, 2017) suggests a bidirectional causal relationship between moral behaviors and authenticity. That is, individuals feel less authentic to the extent they perceive their behaviors as deviating from being morally good (Christy et al, 2016).…”

“…For instance, emerging evidence (Christy, Seto, Schlegel, Vess, & Hicks, 2016;Kim, Christy, Rivera, Schlegel, & Hicks, 2017) suggests a bidirectional causal relationship between moral behaviors and authenticity. That is, individuals feel less authentic to the extent they perceive their behaviors as deviating from being morally good (Christy et al, 2016). They are also less willing to engage in morally questionable behaviors when they are trying to be authentic (i.e., aiming to follow their true selves, Kim et al, 2017).…”

“…We conducted three studies (two experimental, and one using daily diary methods) to examine this question. Based on previous research (Christy et al, 2016;Kim, et al, 2017), we hypothesized that authenticity and moral behaviors should reinforce each other in work settings. As long as employees can behave in an authentic way, they would be more likely to behave morally, and vice versa.…”

Adolescents’ Self-Perception of Morality, Competence, and Sociability and their Interplay with Quality of Family, Friend, and School Relationships: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

“…This reasoning is rooted in theories on self-perception (Cooley 1902;Leary 2005), according to which self-views are grounded on social interactions with significant others. For instance, when individuals consolidate their interpersonal relationships and receive positive feedbacks about their behavior, they perceive this as a social validation of themselves (Christy et al 2016;Crocetti et al 2016).…”